Hey, y'all. My family, all of whom have very different book tastes, literally fought over who got to read this first. And NONE of us didn't love it. That almost never happens! :)

Jill MacKenzie. Writer. Reader. Meanderer.

Inspiration is a funny thing. I’ve always had the kind of thoughts and ideas that inspire stories. The first story I remember writing was in fourth grade, and I wrote a story about an alien zoo. But then I had a teacher in sixth grade who made me think I was a terrible writer. And that stuck with me for a Very Long Time--to the point where I forgot that that’s what those random thoughts and ideas were for.

So I went about my life for about 20 years thinking I was just weird. I mean, I’m an avid reader, an introvert, and a musician, so weird wasn’t anything I was worried about or ashamed of, but still. My toes are sticking out from under the covers, and I pull them back under, imagining a little goblin-creature that will bite them if they’re out, and then I start wondering what his story is. What is he? Why does he bite toes? And then I start creating answers for those questions… Yeah. Weird.*

But then, I sort of randomly rediscovered my love of writing. And the odd thing is that it took me until like the third or fourth story to realize that THAT was the purpose of all those strange “what if” thoughts and ideas that would pop into my head all the time.

So now I sort of grab a hold of the ideas that intrigue me the most and write them down. Sometimes they become stories, sometimes not. But at least I’m not JUST weird. I’m a writer.

Kiss Me, Kill You, however, started out as almost a challenge. An agent in a chat was closing up her Q&A by talking about things she’d like to see. She mentioned wanting a succubus book, but then said, “Although I’m not sure that would work in YA.” So my brain was like, “Hold my beer.” LOL.** My brain took that idea and ran with it. A few months later when I was in a writing workshop, a prompt exercise was the perfect opportunity to find my teenage succubus’s voice. And it was perfect.

It took a long time, many revisions, many tears, a title change, and even adding an entire POV to get it to where it is today, but I will always be grateful to that agent for giving me the idea/challenge that became my debut novel.

Larissa Hardesty is a Young Adult author of speculative fiction. Her debut novel, Kiss Me, Kill You, released June 2017 from Entangled Crave. Having lived a fairytale when she met her husband while on vacation at Disney World as a high school senior, all of her stories have at least a touch of romance. When she’s not writing, she can be found pursuing her passion for music as an elementary music teacher and handbell choir director. She lives in Central Florida with her husband and three children.